UCLEAR Helmet Communicator HBC120 Snow Review

Last week GeekAlerts introduced you to the UCLEAR HBC120 Snow Helmet Communicator, and you’ve already read about the HBC100 Communicator, so this week we are going to give you a review of the HBC120 Snow. If you are not familiar with helmet communicators, you have nothing to worry about. UCLEAR provides good directions and their setup is pretty straight forward assuming you know how to use your Bluetooth capable phone.

Once the package containing my review sample was opened, I inspected the included components for quality and craftsmanship. As far as I could tell, everything was good working order and the quality seemed solid. The kit comes with everything you’ll need except a Bluetooth phone. While I’ll admit I didn’t get to the slopes this weekend, I did test the setup on a helmet for fit and finish and audio quality. I had no problem setting it up and the included extension cord worked fine although I didn’t need it for my configuration.

The included Velcro patches fit well in my helmet and the ear speakers securely fasten to them. This is high quality Velcro, you don’t need to worry about the speakers going anywhere even if you take a big tumble or two…The kit is also snow and rain resistant (-4°F to 140°F) which gives you peace of mind as some of us tend to get a little wet on the slopes. There are two mounting straps and one metal mounting bracket with double sided tape for use when you are ready to secure the HBC120 communicator control unit. For my helmet I choose one of the Velcro straps, but any of the three should work well.

Once the gear was in place on my helmet, I needed to pair my phone to the communicator. This was as easy as just pressing a few buttons on the communicator and going through a few steps on my phone. Blinking LED lights indicate when the connection is complete on the communicator and your phone will probably tell you as well. The next thing to check was the sound quality and this is where the HBC120 separates itself form the rest of the field.

You might have seen other communicators on the market, but it is UCLEAR’s four stage patented digital microphone array that sets the HBC120 Snow apart from all others. I found the audio to be very clear and boomless even with some gusty winds blowing through the helmet. The patented advanced digital signal processing technology really does work well and I can see why this is the same technology that the military uses.

Stage One: Our patented” Adaptive-Beam Forming” algorithm is used to optimize the SNR of the wanted signal and continue to track the user’s voice within the Sweet Spot Area. This ensures that the signal taken in by stage 1 is high in desired signal as noise and interference free as possible.

Stage Two: Adaptive Interference-Cancellation” is performed in this stage, to suppress man generated noise. As man generated noise contains directional information, the array is able to identify those noise sources as outside the ‘sweet zone’ thus cancelling them. The cancellation is done by adaptively creating a ‘null’ or ‘dead spot’ in the direction of each identified noise source.

Stage Three: This stage of the signal processing primarily resolves the natural noise sources and other non-directional noise source induced into the desired audio information. These noise types are diffused or otherwise lack directional information. They would be identified and suppressed dynamically along with the signal level of the induced natural noise in the frequency domain. Also performed in this stage, is some form of signal recovery to the wanted signal information, speech enhancement, before outputting the final processed signal.

Stage Four: Together, these technologies produce astonishingly levels of noise suppression and interference cancellation never achieved before. The result of processing different types of noise by different intelligent adaptive processes layer by layer, as opposed to a single juncture cancellation, results in superior quality of the desired voice and greater suppression of unwanted noise being delivered. The resultant suppression of unwanted noise sources by the Digital Microphone Array with DSP processing is on average 24 dB and may go as high as 30+dB.

The HBC 120 allows you to make calls, listen to music, use voice commands for call pickup, and have helmet to helmet intercom (with second unit), all with the simple click of a button. I found the communicator very easy to use and once your get used to the position of it on your helmet or gear, you can click away like it is second nature.

I know some of you may be wondering about battery life. Honesty, it was never an issue for me. I only charged the communicator once for the entire review and the UCLEAR website states that you can have up to 10 hours of talk time and 2 weeks of standby time on a single 2 hour charge. That should be more than enough for most slope riders out there.

HBC 120 Features:

Compatible with most Bluetooth devices, Make mobile phone calls, Listen to music (AVRCP A2DP), Voice command for calls pickup, Helmet to Helmet Intercom (Requires second unit)

Overall from my limited time with the HBC120 Snow, I would have to say this is going to be one of the better products on the market at this price. It has the cutting edge digital microphone array technology that has been used by the military and is sure to offer great sound even in the harshest of conditions. The fit and finish were great and the parts all seem to be of high quality. I would think that most users will find the setup quick and easy to follow and should be on the slopes with their HBC 120 Communicator in no time. If you are in the market for the latest in communicator technology for the slopes, make sure you check out the UCLEAR HBC 120 Snow.

Order the HBC 120 Snow direct from the UClear Store for $229.95 and follow them on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest product news. You can purchase these at Amazon.com for $229.95.

Related Articles

Remember that UClear Bluetooth Helmet Communicator GeekAlerts.com posted about last month? That was the HBC-100 model, and it was meant to use with a motorcycle helmet. This new one, the UClear HBC120 Snow Helmet Communicator, gives you incredible communication capabilities right while skiing or snowboarding […]

We’ve already taken a look at the UClear HBC100 and UClear HBC120, advanced communicators designed for motorcycle helmets and snowboard helmets, respectively. For all the cyclists out there, we now present the UClear HBC130 Bicycle Helmet Communicator. This communicator is designed to easily attach to […]

Wearing a motorcycle helmet can seriously interfere with communications, unless you have the UClear HBC100 Bluetooth Helmet Communicator. Between the wind whipping by and the roar of the engine, a typical wireless headset would be worthless. However, the UClear HBC 100 uses proven military technology […]

You can get ready to explore strange, new planets with the Star Trek Gold Phaser and Gold Communicator as you prepare for your imaginary adventure as a noble and brave member of Starfleet; just don’t wear a red shirt unless your name is Scotty. This […]

We all wish that we had a communicator that we could call the Enterprise with, but sadly we aren’t beaming anywhere. However, you can look like you have a Star Trek communicator with this Star Trek Communicator Mighty Wallet. It is made from Tyvek. That […]

There are many Portable Cell Phone Jammers and Universal Cell Phone Jammers, such as the World’s Smallest Cellphone Jammer. There are even cell phone jammers hidden in paintings. What makes this High Power GPS, Cell Phone, 3G Signal Jammer different is that it is very […]

You can’t use a phaser on people who irritate you and you can’t beam to work but the Star Trek: Original Series Bluetooth Communicator puts the technology of the USS Enterprise in your hands. You’ll have to resist the urge to say ‘Kirk to Enterprise’ […]

A new little item has arrived for those trekkies who won’t say no just because they already have a Star Trek Communicator Replica and a Star Trek USB Communicator Internet Phone laying around. Say hello to the new Star Trek communicator keychain with sound effects.

Surely many of you have made the resolution of hopping on your bike more often this year, and a big GA kudos goes out to you. While the health of your body and the earth benefit from biking, one drawback to biking is that you’re inadvertently putting your life […]

Last week we had the Monster Giveaway, our most popular sweepstakes to date. Now it is over and the winner has been notified by email. Stay tuned for more great giveaways. We completed hands-on reviews of a number of products including the UCLEAR HBC120 Snow […]

Just how does a communicator work? This Star Trek Communicator Manual T-Shirt will clue you in. It breaks it all down for you in the style of a manual. This 100% cotton Star Trek Communicator Manual T-Shirt may not tell you how to fix a […]